L.A. Math: 10 minutes = 32 minutes

I generally aim to leave my house in Sherman Oaks (East) earlier than 6:40am. Ideally, I’ll hit the road at 6:30am. When I leave on time (absolutely no later than 6:40am), my 24.9 hour commute lasts a comfortable 47 minutes (average 34mph, not horrible by L.A. standards). Take a look at each leg of the route, parenthesized with time elapsed on each leg:

As stated, 6:40am is the breaking point for my commute, specifically. If I leave at 6:45, my commute increases to an average of 55 minutes (an understandable 8 minute increase in drive time for a 5-minute delay in leaving). If I leave at 6:50am, the commute makes an exponential increase – the 10-minute lapse costs me an astounding 32 minutes of drive time.